Dr Mark Porter: From vitamin C to homeopathy — the myths peddled about cancer – The Times

Doc Martin — the TV series about the grumpy Cornish GP, not the boot — is a favourite in the Porter household. In a recent episode the doctor was asked by a frightened patient: “Am I going to die?” “Yes,” replied Martin Clunes, who plays the GP, “but not today.” A good point well made, and one that came to mind after the announcement that Macmillan Cancer Support has appointed a nurse to bust online myths that mislead — and often prey upon — people with cancer.

The digital nurse specialist Ellen McPake is going to be busy. The briefest search on Google reveals a whole host of bizarre claims: chemotherapy kills more people than cancer; sugar and other carbs in your diet make cancer…